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Wari Tournament, Castle Lißberg
Wari Tournament, Castle Lißberg → German. The Wari Tournament is held annually during the Africa Festival at Castle Lißberg near Ortenberg (Vogelsberg). It is the only Oware tournament taking place regularly in Germany. History of the Tournament The Africa Festival started in 1986 and has been held each year since (except in 2011) then during the Pentecost weekend. The first Wari tournament took place in 2000. Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a large German newspaper, reported on June 9, 2000 that "tomorrow (...) from 2:30 pm (...) a Wari tournament" was planned. The tournament was eventually held onstage. Probably it was the first Oware tournament in Germany. After a long break there were more tournaments in Lißberg in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. The winner of the first tournament is no longer known. In 2008 it was won by Svenja Rademacher, in 2009 by Max Penszuk and in 2010 by Eric Kröll from Gelnhaar who was the just eight-year old at that time. In 2012, the tournament was won by Roland Schulz from Karlsruhe. Every year the first prize is an Owareboard. In 2009, there were 16 participants, who were divided into two groups: complete beginners, who had just learned the game, and advanced beginners, who had played before. The tournament used the knock-out system, losers were immediately eliminated. The rules weren't abapa; capturing by "Grand Slam" was permitted and the player without seeds had to be fed in the next move. In 2010, there were 8 participants, also all of them beginners. The tournament was played in four rounds, and, if possible, players with the same number of points were paired. The rules were now abapa. In addition, there was an Oware workshop with about 15 participants and a Tchouba workshop, which, however, had only two participants. The workshops and the tournament was held by Ralf Gering who is one of the best German Oware players. In 2011, the fest had to be cancelled because the castle was renovated. In 2012, there were 10 participants: 5 men (including Eric Kröll, who was 11 at that time) and 5 women. The rules were abapa. The tournament was played in five rounds. The first two of them were played by all participants. Two players who had lost all their games were eliminated before the third round. The fourth round was only reached by the four players with the most points, the finals only by the two best players. In the fouth round, the game between Eric Kröll (Gelnhaar) and Bettina Hagen (Bonn) ended in a draw. Half a point gained by this game was enough for Bettina Hagen to make the third place. And that way Eric Kröll could enter the finals, where he had to fight the same opponent as in 2010. Unlike 2010, however, he lost and became only the runner-up. Instead, the championship was won by the runner-up of 2010 Roland Schulz from Karlsruhe. Never before a Wari competition was so exciting in Lißberg. Africa Festival During the festival Oware boards can be bought, but also African jewellery, clothes and rare books. There are drumming workshops, concerts, dance performances and slide shows. Visitors can camp on site, the sanitary conditions are good and the food (African and German) is varied and tasty. Many visitors know each other for years or even decades, but newcomers feel welcome too. Some do even come from the Netherlands and Austria. See also *Mancala tournaments in Germany External Links *Homepage of the Friends of the Africa Festival References ;jjo.: Afrika-Fest auf dem Lißberger Burgberg. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 9th June of 2000, Number 133, 76. Copyright © Ralf Gering Under the CC by-sa 2.5 License. Category:Tournaments